My Sunday was fraught with a water leak.
The Problem
1 A tenant (speaking a Middle Eastern language) reports to third party (furniture removers speaking an Eastern European language) that water is leaking out of a radiator.
2 A tenant whose English is not good enough to explain the problem to me or the plumber.
3 My usual plumber, supposed to be changing valves shortly, was out of phone and email contact, probably away with family at the weekend.
4 I don't know if my insurance covers this. Or what the policy number is nor the phone number to call. Where's my paperwork? I'm in the middle of family Sunday lunch. And a delivery of furniture from the tenant's flat back to me - and my co-manager. My co-manager and I spend a while researching phone plumbers from the online search engines but even those advertising weekends and 24 hours don't reply.
5 We phone the building's porter. Their plumber does not operate at weekends. Can the water to the radiators be turned off by the porter - will the tenant be able to fill a kettle in advance - too complicated to explain to tenant.
6 My co-manager picks the nearest plumber and agrees to pay the £100 weekend callout fee.
7 We phone the tenant back to say help is en route and please wait.
8 Plumber reports no reply from tenant.
9 Two hours or more wait and worry.
10 My co-manager goes off for the evening on a social engagement.
11 I eventually chase up plumber and learn he has changed a valve. He will give my co-manager feedback tomorrow, Monday. I manage to get the plumber's email. (My co-manager did not ask for it, assuming that plumbers don't do emailing.)
12 I am trying to find out how to translate what I want to ask the tenant, "Do you know how to turn off the water - the stopcock is under the fuse box?" I think the tenant is from Afghanistan but there are two national languages. Even if I can use google translate and get stopcock and fuse box translated into the pashtuns' language, he might speak another language. When I was translating packing into French and Spanish it took me two weeks to get the correct translation of nail file (two sorts of nails, two sorts of files). After half an hour researching Arabic and Aramaic alphabets I realise translating plumbing terms into a Pashtun's Farsi or Urdu is is a lost cause. Even buying a phrase book and dictionary won't help.
The Problem
1 A tenant (speaking a Middle Eastern language) reports to third party (furniture removers speaking an Eastern European language) that water is leaking out of a radiator.
2 A tenant whose English is not good enough to explain the problem to me or the plumber.
3 My usual plumber, supposed to be changing valves shortly, was out of phone and email contact, probably away with family at the weekend.
4 I don't know if my insurance covers this. Or what the policy number is nor the phone number to call. Where's my paperwork? I'm in the middle of family Sunday lunch. And a delivery of furniture from the tenant's flat back to me - and my co-manager. My co-manager and I spend a while researching phone plumbers from the online search engines but even those advertising weekends and 24 hours don't reply.
5 We phone the building's porter. Their plumber does not operate at weekends. Can the water to the radiators be turned off by the porter - will the tenant be able to fill a kettle in advance - too complicated to explain to tenant.
6 My co-manager picks the nearest plumber and agrees to pay the £100 weekend callout fee.
7 We phone the tenant back to say help is en route and please wait.
8 Plumber reports no reply from tenant.
9 Two hours or more wait and worry.
10 My co-manager goes off for the evening on a social engagement.
11 I eventually chase up plumber and learn he has changed a valve. He will give my co-manager feedback tomorrow, Monday. I manage to get the plumber's email. (My co-manager did not ask for it, assuming that plumbers don't do emailing.)
12 I am trying to find out how to translate what I want to ask the tenant, "Do you know how to turn off the water - the stopcock is under the fuse box?" I think the tenant is from Afghanistan but there are two national languages. Even if I can use google translate and get stopcock and fuse box translated into the pashtuns' language, he might speak another language. When I was translating packing into French and Spanish it took me two weeks to get the correct translation of nail file (two sorts of nails, two sorts of files). After half an hour researching Arabic and Aramaic alphabets I realise translating plumbing terms into a Pashtun's Farsi or Urdu is is a lost cause. Even buying a phrase book and dictionary won't help.
LESSONS LEARNED
***1 Have all emergency numbers of insurance and plumbers /electricians etc on a list by the phone - with your policy number to quote.
2 Ask all services such as plumbers if they can be sure to finish the job before the weekend so the problem does not escalate and go wrong over the weekend.
3 Traffic may be quiet at the weekend, but it's harder to call insurance and services to solve problems and you cannot get to shops selling spares.
4 Try to have tenants who speak your first language or your second language. Unless you know the urdu for, 'this is an induction hob requiring special pans'; and 'do you know how to bleed a radiator?'
5 Keep on the property's old phone line so you can call the tenants easily when you want to contact the visiting workmen or the tenant.
***1 Have all emergency numbers of insurance and plumbers /electricians etc on a list by the phone - with your policy number to quote.
2 Ask all services such as plumbers if they can be sure to finish the job before the weekend so the problem does not escalate and go wrong over the weekend.
3 Traffic may be quiet at the weekend, but it's harder to call insurance and services to solve problems and you cannot get to shops selling spares.
4 Try to have tenants who speak your first language or your second language. Unless you know the urdu for, 'this is an induction hob requiring special pans'; and 'do you know how to bleed a radiator?'
5 Keep on the property's old phone line so you can call the tenants easily when you want to contact the visiting workmen or the tenant.
Useful Websites
https://www.wikihow.com/Detect-Water-Leaks
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